Life's Common Things
by SugarLandBabyGirl
Summary: Fifteen year-old Fern Carlson's comfortable American life is suddenly upturned when her mother decides to move them back to where Fern was born: Karakura Town, Japan. Who knew losing everything would bring about the journey of a lifetime and reveal hidden family secrets that would permanently change the course of her life and assumed fate, forever.
1. Prologue

_**A/N:**_ Okay, so I know that the last thing I need is another story to work on, _but_ this was written a long time ago, about the same time as _'Just One of the Guys' _actually, as the partner story for my character _Fern Carlson_, who just showed up in _'Just One of the Guys'_, however I was disgusted with the horrible quality and didn't post it on FF, but have been trying to refresh and fix it on my Quizilla account all the while and now that I am mostly satisfied with the quality I want to post it on here. I did change the title and a few other things so it isn't exactly the same one I posted on Quizilla, but I hope you guys like it since I have tried to improve it a great deal from what it once was.

As a side note I'd like to tell everyone that _'Just One of the Guys' _is written from Saita's pov, while this story is in Fern's, even though the two are connected. So a lot of Fern's adventures away from Saita and the Seireitei are in this story, not _'Just One of the Guys'._ Sorry if this confuses everyone, but since Saita and Fern live two very different lives, I didn't want to mesh them up completely into one singular story, as I thought it would be far too confusing. This story is listed as a Friendship/Adventure story, but it will also have romance, eventually. Who whom, well I'm still debating that, but if any of you have a specific male you want her to be with, be it either a human, Shinigami or even an Espada, - even though I cannot see her with any of the Espada - just tell me and I'll consider him and see if they make an okay couple.

**_Warning:_** This story like the majority of my writings is rated highly mature, due to excerssive bad language, touchy subjects, sexuality with the possibility of explicit sex scenes and general stuff like that. Also as another warning, this one has a lot of OC's, but I will limit all that I can without messing up my original image of this story. This warning goes for _**all**_ of my stories, and I feel like a right idiot for not saying so sooner, also I do not own the manga or anime of _Bleach _in any way, shape or form.

Take care, and enjoy,

-SugarLandBabyGirl

_**

* * *

**_

_**Prologue**_

"Fern, I need to talk to you." Her mother's monotone voice called from the kitchen, as she walked in through the front door from school. Her backpack was slung lazily over her left shoulder and her flaxen hair was thrown up in a messy bun, while her hands were shoved into the front of her faded blue jeans pocket. Her iPod was inside the right back pocket while the headphones rested on her shoulders as '_Isn't She'_ by Carolina Rain played.

Fern let out a loud mushroom sigh and walked into the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at their round red oak kitchen table, stirring something that looked like batter. She only glanced up at her disinterested daughter for a moment before motioning for her to sit down. _'Blueberry Muffin's…' _Fern thought after catching a whiff of the batter. She then proceeded to pull out the closest red oak chair and turn it around so the back was facing the table before she sat down. Fern heard her mother let out a sigh of disapproval at her improper way of sitting but she said nothing knowing that it would only cause an argument.

Fern's mother, Iyona Saiki-Carlson looked younger than her true age which was thirty-six, with her waist length flaxen blonde hair, piercing indigo eyes and her young early twenties looking body. Most people, especially men thought that she was Fern's elder sister instead of her mother. Sometimes it really bothered Fern when guys only two years older than her would hit on her mother, right in front of her. It was truly disgusting and wrong, but her mother would always calmly and politely tell them that Fern was her daughter and that she was a widow and that they were way too young, not to mention immature. Fern had always been thankful that her mother was always truthful about her father and her age.

"Fern," She started with a softer voice as she finished pouring the batter into the muffin pan. "I have decided to take my old job back." Iyona turned to the stove, with the muffin pan in hand and after setting the proper heat she turned back to her confused daughter. "Okay." Fern said slowly, giving her mother a confused look. _'Why would she need to tell me this like it's something life changing?' _Fern silently asked herself with a flat, bored expression, as she drummed her fingers lazily on her bicep. School had been boring, but she was looking forward to hanging out with her friends after changing into something more comfortable and getting a well deserved shower.

"No, Fern it's not the one at the Bank. An old friend of mine called me a week ago, well we got to talking about old times and the subject of us visiting came up… and then, the subject of us moving came up and I had been thinking about it anyway, so I called my old employer up and he told me that my job position was still open, even after all of these years and I've already gone ahead and made all of arrangements, so we will be leaving… tomorrow." She looked up at Fern with a straight face, which meant that she wasn't joking.

Fern froze and just stared at her mother hoping to God that she would crack a smile or something, but nothing. After a moment the only thing Fern could do was whisper, "Where?" She gave her daughter direct unwavering stare and spoke, "Karakura Town, Japan." Fern's blue-gray eyes glazed over with tears, she shook her head violently before she jumped from her seat and screamed at her mother. "Why? Why now… why now of all times? I'm happy, and you're ruining it like you always do!" Fern was nearly in hysterics, as the ripping pain in her chest began to worsen to an almost unbearable state. "Fern lower your voice." She told her angry daughter sternly, yet patiently before continuing. "We are moving because I feel that it will be a good move for the both of us and because in three weeks Bemis will be closing, for good."

"But, why Japan?" Fern asked breathlessly as angry tears cascaded down her lightly tanned cheeks. Her fists clenched and released as she stood in front of her mother. Fern didn't know what to do, she felt like running, but what good would that do? She promised her father she would never leave her mother and she never broke a promise if she could help it. "Because Fern, that is where you were born and so was I. It is also where Alexander and I were married. The only reason we left Japan was because of your Father's job required that he move and since we were a family he didn't want us to be separated so we decided to move everyone." Iyona spoke directly, her face remained stern but her eyes were flashing with so many emotions that Fern couldn't keep up with them. Her mother was perhaps the most confusing person Fern had ever come in contact with.

"Do you understand now Fern?" She asked with a softer tone, when she saw Fern's facial expression go from surprised and angry to sad and blank. Iyona hadn't wanted to hurt her daughter, that was not her intention, but she had despite herself. Fern was intelligent, strong willed and independent to the core, but she was also very sensitive. Words cut her deeper than a blade ever could. They were so much alike that they clashed more often than not. "Yes." Fern muttered quietly before she turned and ran out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door loudly.

Downstairs in the kitchen Iyona sighed sadly as she watched her heartbroken and angry daughter run up the stairs and away from her. She hadn't wanted to hurt Fern, but this was going to be a better life and new start. Well that was what she had been trying to convince herself for the last week. Leaving so suddenly was a shock to Fern's system, but it was for the best. She knew that it was hard for Fern, especially after Alexander was killed five years ago. It was hard on both of them, but Fern had always been so close to him and his death was harder on her than it was on Iyona. After all, death had been her life before she met Alexander.

"Things will get better," Iyona sighed sadly as tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. She tried to stop the tears, but she couldn't and they fell down like a waterfall as she cupped her hands over her face and quietly sobbed into her hands. In all of Fern's life, she had never once cried in front of her daughter. She had to be the strong one, for them both. "They have to, they just have to," She sadly whispered over and over again into her hands. Iyona had heard the upstairs shower being turned on only a couple of minutes after Fern had slammed her door closed and an hour later Fern emerged from her room. She was dressed in black and silver Bermuda shorts, black flip-flops that had 'Smokin' Ace's' written on them in white letters and a white wife beater. Her long hair was now in a neat pony tail and her face looked only slightly blotchy from her crying. Iyona noticed that her daughter was heading to the front door and asked, "Fern, honey, where are you going?"

Fern's hand had just reached out to grab the door handle, but when she heard Iyona ask her where she was going, her hand froze in mid air and her head bent down. She didn't answer for a minute, but then she picked her head up and looked over at Iyona and said, "I'm going to say good-bye to my friends." Iyona watcher her heartbroken daughter open the door and then disappear completely as the door closed. "I'm so sorry baby. I didn't mean to hurt you." Iyona whispered sadly, still staring at the closed door sadly. Fern probably wouldn't be back that night and knowing her daughter like she did, Iyona knew all of Fern's things were already packed.

After leaving the house Fern pulled out her silver iPod and turned it on. _'All These Lives'_ by Daughtry came on and she turned it up so she could drown out the world. She decided that since she was leaving for Japan tomorrow, she had better go and see her friends one last time. Patrick Willingham, Nichole Harris, Colton Blake, Chance Reid and Hannah Reid along with herself made up the group. They all went to High School together and they had the same classes. They'd all been friends pretty much since Kindergarten. Fern could still remember the first time she met all of them. She was friends with Patrick and Colton first.

Patrick was a small and sickly looking boy back then and he had a right to be. He was born two months premature. The first time that she saw him he was getting pushed around by Michael Duncan, Thomas Gardner, Brandon Eads, Joel Anderson, Cody Ruffin and Justin Ruffin on the playground. She felt sorry for the poor auburn haired, green eyed freckled face boy, so she decided to be nice and help him out. They ended up in a minor fist fight and somewhere in the middle of the fight Colton Blake an onyx haired, blue eyed boy jumped in and started fighting along with her. After the Teacher's broke up the fight they introduced themselves and shared a bloody lipped smile and things just fell into place.

Then about two months later Chance and Hannah Reid moved to Dallas, Texas from Austin, Texas. Colton, Patrick and Fern instantly befriended the new comers. Chance had brunette hair that was always in a Mohawk with chocolate brown eyes and Hannah being his twin had shoulder length brunette hair and the same chocolate brown eyes as her brother. Then about a week later Nichole Harris, moved from Houston, Texas to Dallas, Texas. She had strawberry blonde hair and sky blue eyes. She was shy and hardly ever talked, but all of them befriended her nonetheless.

Thinking back on it, Fern never would have guessed that they had made lifelong enemies and partial friends on rare days with Michael Duncan, Thomas Gardner, Brandon Eads, Joel Anderson, Cody and Justin Ruffin. But alas their fate was sealed when Colton and Fern threw their first punches. Fern grinned remembering that she had knocked out Michael's front tooth in that fight, but it was a baby tooth and thankfully not permanent. Times had changed since then, but they hadn't, not drastically at least. Patrick grew a backbone around his ninth birthday and fights back now. He isn't small any more either being six foot five inches tall and has the body of a lifeguard, which he should, considering he is a lifeguard at the local swimming pool. He has a more jock-like appearance and attitude, but with a punk twist and he usually wears the clothes from Abercrombie and Finch. Fern always faked a gag, as an old joke, when he started wearing that brand.

Colton is still as bad-assed as he was back then, but now he is an even six foot tall and has his hair spiked up and he is constantly dyeing the tips of his spikes every color imaginable. His current color is a bloody red, and he wears the darker, gothic styled clothing. Ironically Colton works at Hot Topic and now has his ears pierced four times each. He was the one who pierced Fern's earlobes when they were twelve. Her mom had nearly lost her cool that day that was for sure. Nichole was still shy around other people, but now the freckled face girl is a knock-out beauty. She is five foot six inches tall and works at Abercrombie and Finch. Not surprisingly she also wears that brand more often than not. She's been dating Greg Summers, the quarter back for the football team and real idiot if Fern ever saw one, but it was her choice, so Fern hadn't said anything.

Chance now styled his hair with some sort of mega hold gel that makes his hair look like he just got out of bed. In Fern's humble opinion, he'd look better without the gel. He is now five foot eleven and has a body similar to Patrick's only a little less muscular. He works at his Uncle Ben's car shop and race's his dragster every Friday at the local track. Thanks to Colton, he has also pierced his right ear but only once. He is currently dating a cheerleader, Nancy Richman, who is about as dumb as Greg Summers, but they're cousins so Fern guessed that stupidity runs in the family.

Hannah, dear sweet Hannah, was probably the most changed out of all of them. She managed to get sucked into the sixties, somehow and now wears the old 6o's type of clothing and much to Fern's disbelief, dons a feather in her long frizzy brown hair. Sometime or another around her tenth birthday Hannah fell in love with the hippies and she quickly 'converted', as Fern called it. She is five foot seven now and has both her ears pierced twice. Hannah like Fern doesn't have a job. However, unlike Fern, who was lazy and just didn't want one, Hannah kept getting fired for some small thing or another. Usually it was her wardrobe that got her axed, but Hannah didn't seem to mind. She was always the persistent one of the group.

Their lifelong enemies changed as much as they did, well some of them anyways. Michael still had his choppy cut blonde and onyx colored hair, but now the only difference is that his eyes are covered. He is an admirable six foot five and a half inches tall and has his bottom lip pierced twice, with his left ear pierced six times and he has the most awesome body Fern had ever seen on a straight man. But since he is her enemy, she doesn't try to find him too attractive. Thomas didn't change anything about himself either, but is now five foot ten inches tall and works on his grandfather's Ranch. Fern thought that he wasn't such a bad guy, since he ended up living a few houses down from her. Since he was her enemy they usually kept up appearances when their groups were around. Strangely enough he was a really good baseball player and they had played a few games together, secretly of course.

Brandon was still unfortunately sporting his infamous mullet. Fern wanted to gag every time she saw his hair; thankfully he now dons a white cowboy hat to hide that stringy mess from view. He stopped growing around six foot one and is learning how to Bull Ride on his cousin's Ranch. Currently he is dating Samantha Riggings, who is actually a really nice girl, very smart too, almost too smart and good for someone like Brandon, but if they were happy then Fern would let it be. Fern knew Samantha from study hall, as they were often partnered up to help Fern and the rest of the students catch up on their work. Fern actually owed her highest grades in all but three of her classes to Samantha's constant, patient help.

Joel hadn't changed his hairstyle, but he converted into a surfer dude like attitude and surf's whenever he can. He is now five foot ten and works at the local Wal-Mart. Being a bit of a ladies' man, he had several girlfriends. Fern still couldn't see what all those girls saw in him, other than his impressive six-pack abs and enviously natural olive complexion anyone would kill for. If there was anything Fern actually liked about the boy, it was his gorgeous complexion. Cody and Justin still looked just like they did when they were young, but only now they are both an even six feet tall and currently dating the twins, Amanda and Rachel Barnet, respectively. They weren't that bad either personality wise, but Cody's obnoxious superiority complex annoyed the hell out of Fern on most days.

By the time that Fern reached their usual hang out it was around 5:35. Their preferred hang out was the local skating rink, called 'Skater's Paradise' or SP for short. The place had good food, music, games and seating. Not to mention every Friday night they let local bands play live. That was always a good time to be there. As soon as she walked through the tinted doors, the first thing she heard was _'Rockstar'_ by Nickelback blasting through the giant speakers and the unforgettable smell of sweat, pizza and popcorn. Fern inhaled deeply and a grin made its way to her lips. She loved this place.

Miranda Hustler, a violet haired, lime green eyed woman of twenty-two was working the front desk as usual. After Fern greeted her she asked where everyone was. The older woman pointed to the back where the billiard tables were. Fern thanked her friend and ventured to the back, bypassing several bad skaters along the way. When she got to the back, Fern saw that things were going exactly like she had predicted. None of them had seen her yet so she snuck over to Hannah's table, snatched her last cheese stick, dipped it into the warm sauce and quickly shoved the whole thing into her mouth before Hannah tried to snatch it back.

"That was mine!" Hannah wined as Fern swallowed the cheese stick, with a smile. "Yeah, that was true, but this was probably your what third basket? And besides I was hungry." Fern shrugged good-naturedly and sat down in the booth beside her, watching as Chance roller-bladed into the table making the eight ball roll into the pocket. Colton quickly lost the game and his money due to that incident. Seconds later Colton dropped his billiard stick, jumped over the table and chased after Chance who was grinning guiltily. "Hey Fern," Patrick waved as he pocketed the money and walked over to the booth she and Hannah were sitting at. When he reached the booth he slouched down into the orange and black seat, with a pleased sigh. "Hey, Patrick, how much did you win?" Fern asked him with a friendly smile. "About forty seven bucks, Colton wanted to bet fifty, but turns out he didn't have fifty so we just went with what he had on hand." Patrick smiled and patted his pants pocket that now held his victory money and probably the next batch of his energy drink stash.

"You damn bastard! You made me loose all of my money! I'll kill you!" The unmistakable deep voice of Colton James Blake could be heard over all the noise, while he chased after the laughing Chance. Chance, being the goof that he is, was rollerblading around another booth, before he caught sight of Fern and waved rather gaily before rollerblading as fast as he could towards their booth. "Help me Fern! He's goin' to kill me!" Chance huffed playfully before making a mad dash under the booth they were all sitting at. The whole table laughed, but Chance wasn't too far off the mark. If Colton was angry enough he could put someone in the hospital. He'd done it before, but that was under difficult, unmentionable circumstances.

"Hey Fern," Colton greeted with a small smile before his face went back to anger as he tried to pull Chance out from under the booth by his leg. "Get out here so I can beat your ass!" Colton hissed angrily, while yanking on Chance's leg. Chance yelped and whined in pain, but didn't let go of the pole which bolted the table to the floor. "Alright, Colton that's enough. I think he's paid enough for his crime." Nichole said as she bodily shoved the much larger Colton out of the way so she could sit down beside Fern, "Hey Fern, how long have you been here?" She asked in her soft almost motherly tone. Fern loved her voice, as strange as it sounded, but Fern wished her rough accented voice was a melodic as her best friend's. "Oh, not long. Just long enough to steal Hannah's last cheese stick and watch Chance make Colton lose forty seven bucks." Fern answered with a chuckle and a smile. "Again," She laughed and Fern nodded, the whole table shared another laugh at Colton's expense.

After a few minutes Colton settled down and roughly plopped down next to Patrick. Chance hopped over the back of the booth to take a seat on the opposite side of Patrick, where he was safest. Fern grinned, Patrick was always the referee. He was the most even tempered of the guys, Chance came in second and Colton, poor Colton came in dead last. "Hey, guy's… I have something important to tell you." Fern said after everything had calmed down and settled into a comfortable lull. She sighed as all heads turned to her. They immediately knew that something was wrong. Her voice was never that serious unless it was important. _'God, how do you tell your best friends that you're moving away to another continent tomorrow?'_

"I-I'm moving… tomorrow." She whispered her eyes downcast, but everyone heard her loud and clear. For a moment it seemed like no one moved or even breathed. "What?" Colton asked in a cold serious tone. "I'm moving tomorrow, my mother just told me today, just after I got home from school." She muttered not looking at any one. "Where are you moving to?" Hannah asked softly. Fern could tell by the tone in her best friend's voice that she already knew that the move wasn't going to be just across town. It was much, much farther than that. "Japan." She breathed shakily, trying to hold back a river of tears. No one said anything for several minutes, until Chance suddenly burst, "Japan? Are you fucking serious? What the hell is your Ma thinkin'?" He growled. Fern knew he was angry, because he never used the f-word unless he was pissed. Heck he hardly ever cursed at all.

"Well apparently I was born there and Mom's business is going to close down soon and some boss she had before she married dad told her that her job in Japan was still open, so… she took it." She told them sadly. "I'm really sorry guy's, I mean I just found out about an hour ago. She threw this on me too so, please don't be mad." She begged as a warm tear fell down her face. They all looked like they had been betrayed and it hurt her to see them like that because of her. It hurt because she knew that the chance of ever seeing them again was one in a million and she didn't want to lose her best friends.

"Hey don't cry Fern, we aren't mad… we're just," Nichole started, as she hugged Fern with a sniff. She was almost in tears as well. "We're just shocked, and worried." Hannah finished, while hugging Fern tighter. "Yeah," Patrick, Colton and Chance agreed in unison, as they watched all three of the girl's start tearing up. "Why tomorrow?" Hannah cried, while still hugging Fern in a death grip. "I don't know." She answered softly. "She should have given us more time! It's going to harder to say good-bye this way!" Nichole sniffed, but fought back her negative emotions as tears wouldn't help any of them or change the fact that they were losing a dear friend. Fern felt awful, her friends were in pain because of her, because of her mother's stupid decision to move to Japan. "Guy's it's never good-bye remember? It's always 'see you later', right?" Fern asked them with a sad smile, quoting their famous saying. Everyone returned the smile and answered, "Yeah."

"So… if you're leaving tomorrow, can we spend the night at your place, all of us, together? You know like a sleep over, it would be a going away party, just for us. Do you think that your mom would go for that?" Hannah asked, after a moment of silence. "I don't know she might. I can call her and ask." Fern told them, before she went fishing for her cell phone, before she remembered she left it at her house in her blue jeans pocket. "Hey, Colton do you think that-" Fern started to ask. "You could borrow my phone, right?" He asked with his usual sly flirty smile, continuing her unfinished question. "Yeah, could I, please?" Fern asked with a smile. "Sure, here." He passed her his black Motorola Razor phone.

Fern quickly dialed her home phone and waited. First ring, second ring, third ring, "Hello?" Her mom's voice asked politely, in the typical mom tone. "Hey Mom it's me… No nothing's wrong. Yeah, could the guy's stay over for tonight? Okay, thanks… No you won't need to cook we'll stop by Pizza Hut or something. No, we'll stay down in the den… Alright, later," She hung up, gave Colton his phone back and passed happy a smile to everyone. "It's a date," She said with a wink and a halfhearted smile to which everyone returned. "Well, if this is our last day together as a group, then let's go out with a bang." Colton suggested with a wicked grin as his mischievous gaze narrowed in on everyone at the booth. "A-men brother, let's do this!" Chance whooped loudly and the ragtag group of teenagers quickly exited Skater's Paradise.


	2. Chapter One

_**Chapter One**_

The next day, Fern and her mother were on a plane at 5 o'clock in the morning. The plane was just taking off from the Airport and Fern watched out the side window as the huge hunk of metal lifted off of the ground with an unemotional expression on her face. Her thoughts, however, were anything but blank. Fern quickly came to the realization that she already missed her friends. They were undoubtedly still at the Airport waiting for her to come back by some miracle. But sadly she would never return to Texas or see America ever again. At least they had one night of crazy fun before she left. Fern smiled a sad yet happy smile, as she remembered last night.

After the phone call to her mom the group split from Skater's Paradise and went to the Mall, where they knew that Michael, Joel, Thomas, Cody, Justin and Brandon were. Their plans were to cause some trouble before Fern left and like clockwork they found the six guys in the food court. It was a perfect place to cause some mischief. Least to say only twenty minutes later all twelve of the teenagers were kicked out of the Mall. Michael, Joel, Thomas, Cody, Justin and Brandon were covered in food and soda stains and looked like they had just crawled out of a restaurant dumpster. Ten to fifteen minutes after that the group stopped by Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Subway, and Sonic. All of them had to pull cash out of their pockets for that trip, well except for Colton of course. He was flat broke, so Fern paid for his stuff even though he told her not to pay for anything on his account.

It only took them about fifteen minutes more to get back to Fern's house. They went straight to the den and didn't come out until 4:30 in the morning. The party was fun but very emotional. Towards the end, everyone gave Fern a going away present, despite her protests. Naturally they brushed her off and the girls went first. Nichole gave her a 14k yellow gold sea star charm, which looked down right expensive, while Hannah gave her a package of multi-colored, multi-layered star dangle earrings from Hot Topic, all of the colors were neon. Fern just had to smile at that, Hannah had always loved neon colors and had gotten Fern hooked on the eye sores as well somewhere down the line.

When the guys went, Fern was nervous. One could never tell what they would do, but she was pleasantly surprised when Colton went first. He gave her a rosy Croix, silver tone, pewter, gothic druid, immortality rose pendant necklace, while Chance gave her a gold, shell and bone necklace. The very same one she had been looking at two months ago and lastly Patrick gave her a tear drop, blue disk necklace that had a silver chain. But that wasn't all that she received from them.

After Fern had put on all of the jewelry that they had given her, they handed her something else. It was square and was wrapped in a beautiful ocean blue and midnight purple paper and had a rainbow colored bow wrapped around it. After she opened it she started crying, despite her efforts not to. It was a collage of pictures dating back to when they all first met up, till only a week ago when their last group photo was taken at Skater's Paradise. It was the best present out of all of them that they had given her that night and it meant so much to all of them. They told her that each of them had one, exactly like hers. So they would always remember each other, no matter what happened in the future.

They stayed up until 2:30 in the morning just laughing, watching movies, listening to music, playing games and just having a good time. Fern and Colton ended up being the last ones up, due to their dislike of energy drinks. They were just talking about old times, when he just suddenly went quiet and kissed her. It was a simple one on the corner of her lips, but it was still a kiss. He seemed almost embarrassed about it after he drew back and started to stand up to put some space between them, but Fern reached out and gently grabbed his arm stopping him. She hesitated for a moment before carefully standing on her tip toes and kissing him, just as he had done to her.

To Fern it seemed like they just stared into one another's eyes forever. He smiled and gently pulled her close to him in a hug. They understood one another now, the kiss wasn't one of friendship but it wasn't one of love either. It was perfectly in-between, just the way it should have been between them. That night she danced with Colton, which was something he hadn't done since his first grade play. It was a clumsy one on both their parts, but neither one seemed to mind, it was 'their' time. Just them, it was his way of saying good-bye, without words and Fern understood him completely. The next morning, when all seven of them go to the Airport, Colton was the only one who didn't say 'bye' or 'later'. He didn't need to as he had already done it in his own unique way and Fern would never, ever forget it. They were first loves and crushes, but they had never pursued one another fearing the end of their friendship if something was to happen and they broke up. Teenage love was usually a disaster in the making, especially when you were friends first.

A soft smile graced her lips and a lone tear made its way down her face, as she remembered the kiss she and Colton had shared. "Honey, is something wrong?" Her mother's soft voice asked worriedly when she saw the lone tear running down Fern's face. Fern silently shook her head and sent her mother a true buy small smile and whispered, "No everything is fine. Everything is going to be… alright." She voiced softly almost unsure of the truth of her own words. _'And I think, it really will be,'_ She smiled to herself after a moment and turned to watch the fluffy clouds float by her window. After, what seemed like forever, the airplane finally started to descend and Fern's ears started popping, despite her best efforts prevent it by chewing on a piece of citrus flavored gum and listening to _'Face Down'_ by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, which was turned up all of the way. Fern was trying to drown out the popping, but it wasn't working.

"Fern, honey please turn that off until we get off the plane." Iyona practically begged her daughter, after having to hear every song that Fern had been playing since they left America. Fern had went through Gwen Stefani, Akon, Strata, Green Day, Hedley, Scandal featuring Patty Smyth, Terri Clark, Asia, Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Fergie, and many, many more. It was enough to drive someone insane. "Alright," Fern agreed, while stuffing the iPod into her small backpack, which was supposed to be kept in the overhead compartment. The bag had extra batteries, feminine products that weren't makeup, a couple of books, a portable DVD player and some DVD's. All in all it was enough to keep her busy, until the rest of their stuff arrived, which her mother seemed to think would be the day after tomorrow. Fern wasn't really counting on it, knowing how bad shipping stuff continentally was, but her mom seemed confident enough, so she just shrugged it off and went along with her own devices.

It took them thirty minutes in all to leave the Airport, which was a big surprise to Fern. She thought it would take longer, but she wasn't complaining. Sometimes it was good to be proven wrong, besides she seriously needed to run or at the very least walk around. Her legs were stiff and they were starting to cramp-up from the long flight, which is not a good thing for an active teenager.

"Feeling the jetlag yet?" Iyona asked, with a soft smile, as she and Fern rolled their suitcases out of the Airport to a waiting Taxi cab. Fern had a bad feeling about the taxi rife to her new house, but she just brushed them off and wheeled their many bags to the curb, where the taxi was waiting. "Not really. My legs are cramping a little, but that's all." Fern truthfully told her mom as she helped the cabbie put their bags in the trunk. Fern knew all of them weren't going to fit, because her mom literally had a bag for all of her shoes, a bag full of cosmetic things, and eight bags full of her clothes. Fern only had her backpack, and two suitcases. It was quite ironic one would think that she's the teenager instead of Fern.

'_This is truly ridiculous.' _Fern thought to herself as the cab pulled out of the airport. The trunk was full and so was the front passenger seat, the back seat and all of those were just her mother's bags. Fern's bags were in her lap and under her feet. Fern was literally squished between her mom, the cab door and her bags and then some of her own bags. It took them twenty minutes to get to their street and then their new home. Fern still wasn't quite ready to call this place home. It was just too soon. Her father was in America, as well as her friends. She had been born in Japan, but she was raised in America. Her heart and soul was in America, or so that's what it felt like.

Fern studied the house with a scrutinizing gaze. The house was actually rather modern-American looking and to her surprise, it was already completely furnished. The inside style was mixed somewhere between Japanese and American. It looked really nice actually. The walls were a soft cream color which was trimmed in beige and dark red. All of the rooms were that color, even the bathrooms. "So what do you think?" Iyona asked as Fern stared in complete awe at the house. "It's," Fern paused, trying to think of a good word for the attractive home, before she breathed out the perfect word, "Beautiful." Iyona smiled, at her awe struck daughter, "Fern, this is where your father and I lived, before we moved to America." She informed her only child.

Fern spun around to face her mother with wide-eyes and wanted to speak, but words just wouldn't come. So she just looked like a fish out of water. After a minute Fern just sighed and hung her head, before she snatched up her bags and walked down the hall. She passed an extra bedroom, a small laundry room and a hallway closet, before she came to another bedroom. This one, she quickly decided, was going to be hers. It was isolated at the back of the house and was supposed to be the guest room, but she wanted it. It would be great for peace and quiet, and it was one of the bigger rooms in the house. It would fit all of her things and she would have a place to put her collection of weapons. "Time to get settled in," She whispered as she laid her bags on the bed and started to pull out her clothes, jewelry, hair stuff, photographs, shoes and electronics. It was going to be a long day of unpacking and she still hadn't gotten all of her stuff in yet.

It was three a.m. on a Friday morning in Karakura Town, Japan and Fern couldn't sleep. Something eerie had been keeping her up since twelve and it was starting to irritate her to no end. There was only one way she could describe the feeling. Strong, possibly stronger than anything she had ever felt before, it almost made her want to climb into bed with her mom like a frightened infant, almost. She was fifteen years old for Pete's sake and was not going to embarrass herself over something so stupid. _'God! Go away! People are trying to sleep here!' _She mentally screamed, when the eerie feeling didn't go away. After a while the eeriness faded and Fern was able to slip off into a peaceful slumber for a few hours.

When Fern next woke, she found the house peacefully quiet. Since it was Friday and tomorrow was the last day of school for the week, Fern decided that she didn't need to go take the exam yet. Instead she just wandered around the block for awhile, after a quick breakfast of a singular apple. There was really nothing down the whole block but houses, a neighborhood Doctor and a park not too far away. She had already unpacked everything that she had brought with her, so she just jogged around the block. But she kept a good memory of how and where she went so she wouldn't get lost and have to call her mom. Iyona had left to go see her old boss early that morning. He was supposed to be a doctor of some sort, but that kind of thing never interested Fern so she usually tuned her mother out when she started blabbering about her boss and old job.

While Fern was jogging around the block for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, she heard a commotion as she was turning the next corner. She didn't stop and ran up on a strange scene. There were five guys fighting in the middle of the street, or rather there was one guy beating up on the four other guys. The guy who was beating up the others was quite possibly the weirdest looking teenager she had ever seen and that was staying something since she had seen a lot of weird shit. He had bright, neon orange hair and he was wearing a grayish school uniform. He looked like a dandelion with his hair color and slim body, that looked like it could easily be broken in two. However, he was single handedly and effortlessly kicking all of the guy's asses, so obviously he wasn't as delicate as he appeared.

'_Hm, wonder what they did to him?' _Fern asked herself with a cocked eyebrow as she just watched everything that was going on. An unexpected cold chill ran down the back of her spine and she instantly turned around and looked straight into the eye of a little girl. Her left eye was covered in blood and a multitude of the crimson liquid was running down her face from her lips and all over her clothes. Fern instantly knew what she was. She was a plus, a ghost. Fern had seen a lot of them in America, but no one had ever known. It wasn't like she was going to tell the whole world that she saw deceased people. Come on, they'd have throw her in the loony bin quicker then she could blink, so she just kept her mouth shut.

The bloody girl seemed to be quiet surprised that Fern could see her and after a moment she started to smile. It was a small, sad smile, but it had a small glimpse of hope and peace. She just wanted someone to notice her existence. There really was only one true difference between pluses and humans, most living humans couldn't see the pluses. Other than that they were completely the same. Fern felt like crying, the little girl was dead, but like so many others she was still here, watching as the world went on without her. It must have been really depressing for her, with no one ever knowing she was still there. She was invisible to the world, but not to Fern. To Fern she was still someone. Someone who had feelings and dreams, someone the living world had forgotten.

"Hey." Fern whispered with a small smile, the girl smiled and whispered a greeting back. When Fern turned back around, she saw that the four guys had ran away and the neon orange headed guy, turned around to spot her and the ghost girl. Least to say, he looked surprised to see Fern standing there and the bloody girl smiling at him and the new girl. "Hello." Fern spoke politely with a small smile, while stretching out her hand to the neon haired boy. He seemed decent enough, despite the large scowl on his face. The boy just looked at Fern like she was crazy, before she realized her mistake: She had spoken in English and offered an American greeting, not traditional Japanese. Shaking her head with a sigh she tried again, but this time in Japanese, "Hello, my name is Carlson Fern. I'm, uh, new here." She chuckled, but didn't drop her hand.

The boy looked at her for a minute, studying her before he cautiously took her hand and spoke, "Kurosaki Ichigo." His voice was a little rough and he still looked at her like she was the weirdest thing he had ever seen, but he seemed nice and trustworthy enough, now that he finally understood what Fern was saying and his handshake was firm and confident. "Are you lost?" Ichigo asked, with a raised eyebrow after dropping her hand. Fern noticed that his eyes kept moving from her to the young ghost girl behind her. Though no one else would have seen it, he was being very sly about it, but still she knew. There was something else, something only Fern was sure only she could feel. The presence he held was powerful, really powerful. But it was only half of Kanzenchikara's true power at the most. The boy, Ichigo Kurosaki was not a normal human boy by any means. Then again, neither was she.

'_You are a lot more than you appear and know, Kurosaki Ichigo.' _Fern thought to herself with a mental smile, as she looked Ichigo over once more. He was an attractive guy, if not a little rough on the outside. But no one can ever tell a person's true self, just by their attitude, presence or appearance. "Not really. I was just stretching my legs when I heard you and those guys fighting, so being curious I peaked in." Fern shrugged with a smile, while Ichigo just nodded his head slightly, but did not say anything further. He was the strong, quiet type she guessed. "So, how did all of this happen?" Fern ventured to ask with a cocked eyebrow, as the ghost girl behind her giggled.

"Those guys knocked over that glass of flowers. A little girl was killed here not long ago and I wouldn't like it if someone carelessly plowed over my memorial, so I taught them a lesson in respect." Ichigo said in a cold tone, but Fern wasn't offended. He seemed to be the type of guy who didn't show his true 'weak' emotions very often. So Fern took it as if he had been very polite and in his own way, he had been polite. "Yes. I know how that little girl feels." Fern whispered to herself in a quiet tone and immediately she realized her second mistake that night, when she saw the suspicious look on Ichigo's face. _'Damn my blabbering mouth tonight!' _She silently cursed. Fern was usually very careful about what rolled off her tongue. Around Ichigo, however, she felt like she could trust him with everything that she held locked inside. But it was too soon, for trust of that level.

"What?" Ichigo asked in a strange tone. It was somewhere in-between shock, disbelief, and just a touch of anger. "Oh sorry, that came out wrong, what I meant was that if I were her then I wouldn't want someone running over my memorial either. So what you did was honorable, most people don't care about other people anymore, especially the ones that are no longer with us." Fern said, it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't really the truth either, but Ichigo seemed to understand what she had meant. _'Damn that was too close! Even if he can see ghosts, it's better if he doesn't know that I can, at least not for awhile.' _Fern reasoned logically with herself. "It was nice meeting you Ichigo, but I got to go back home, otherwise my mom will freak, seeing as how we just moved here and all." Fern laughed humorously and waved before walking back towards her house. As she stepped around the corner she could faintly heard Ichigo and the ghost girl talking, before their conversation completely faded.

It only took her about five minutes to get back home. She decided to run back, she was a decently fast runner, when she wanted to put the effort into it at least. As soon as she opened the door she heard her mother's voice. She didn't sound angry, but she didn't sound all too happy either. "Fern where have you been, if you haven't noticed, it just so happens to be night time." Iyona voiced as she stepped out of the living room with her arms crossed and a frown. "I know, and before you jump down my throat, hear me out. The reason I'm late is because I ran into a boy and we had a small conversation and that's all." Fern stated rather coldly. She didn't like the look her mother was giving her. It was bordering dangerously close to an accusatory glare. She acted like Fern was doing drugs or committing murder. "What's this boy's name?" Iyona asked coolly, she was interested in who her daughter had met her first night in Japan. "He introduced himself as, Kurosaki Ichigo." Fern said after a moment of silence.

"Oh, what did he look like?" Iyona asked in a strict motherly tone. Fern hated that voice. "He had neon orange hair with brown eyes and he was tall, kind of slender but he had muscles. Why do you want to know, anyway?" Fern asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Her mother was acting really strange lately and it bothered her. "No reason. Are you hungry?" Iyona asked as she carelessly brushed off her daughter's suspicious look. "No, I'm fine. Good night, mom." Fern replied before heading towards her room. She wanted to be alone and she could never stay with her mother very long. If she did she knew that she'd say and probably do something she'd regret forever. Despite Fern's dislike for her mother most of the time, she knew that her father would not like it, so she always left before she could slip-up and do anything brash.

'_What an interesting night, huh, Kanzenchikara,'_ Fern asked the beautiful sword as she pulled it from its gold sheath and held it steadily in her hands. Surprisingly the sword was light in her hands, despite its generous length. It was almost an extension of her own arm. _'Yes, it truly was an interesting night, though you shouldn't be so careless and leave me here. What if you had been attacked by a Hollow, what would you have done then?' _Kanzenchikara spoke in a soft, scolding male tone, but despite having a soothing voice Kanzenchikara wasn't by any means a pushover. Instead of having to yell in anger to make people understand or obey him, his soft voice held a dominant air that made all listen carefully to him, so he needn't yell.

'_I understand, but you know as well as I do, that people would think I'm weird-er if I carried a gold katana around everywhere. I'd most likely be kicked out of school too, so no, I'm sorry but I can't take you every where that I go, it's just not possible. And if I were to be attacked by a Hollow then I'm pretty sure that I could outrun it.' _Fern apologized sincerely to her Zanpakutō, who always scolded her when he was left behind, but he wasn't ever harsh about it. Instead he was mostly patient and kind and usually only gave constructive criticism when she needed it, but that was just the mature side of his personality. He was also the one who taught her how to be a shinigami. He helped her with everything from basic Kidō, to shunpo and of course zanjutsu. Fern was pretty good at hand-to-hand, but the sword was where he true strength lie.

'_Is it safe, Fern? I want to come out.' _Kanzenchikara asked in his usual tone, but she could hear his mischievous streak growing stronger. _'Yeah, my door is locked and no one can sense us.' _She replied, before Kanzenchikara hummed softly. Suddenly a bright blinding flash of light exploded silently from the stainless steal silver blade, but despite being as bright as the sun, no one else could see it. After the light faded away, Fern opened her eyes to look around. She needn't look too far. Standing about four feet away from her was Kanzenchikara in the flesh. Well in his human form, for she had learned that he could take many, but they all had the same element: Gold. He was a tall, slender but muscled man. He had chin length true gold hair and matching eyes. His skin was pale, yet sparked with a slight dust of gold.

He didn't look a day over twenty and he wore modern day clothing and had two gold ear cuffs in each ear, along with a small gold stud in his left earlobe. That was just the start of his jewelry. He had a gold dragon ring on his right thumb, along with four gold bracelets slash wrist wraps on each of his wrists. He had his tongue pierced with a gold ball and he was wearing two belts crisscrossed on his loose blue jeans. He had a white long sleeve shirt on with the sleeves carelessly rolled up to his elbows and the first three buttons were purposely left unbuttoned, which helped to show off his flawless skin and the three necklaces that he was wearing. One was a black choker that had a small gold dragon pendant on it and the other two were just plain gold necklaces of different lengths. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?" He asked with a sly boyish grin. His voice was playful and teasing with a hint of seriousness. That meant only one thing: he wanted something and she probably wasn't going to like it one bit.


	3. Chapter Two

_**Chapter Two**_

"Yes, it has. But I wonder, you haven't came out since I finished my last training session, almost three years ago if I remember correctly, so why now? What's so important that you have to make a personal appearance?" Fern asked with narrowed eye. She wasn't angry, more suspicious than anything. It was usually, always important business when he came out or he was just super bored. She waited patiently for him to answer, as he looked around at his new surroundings and new home. "This place is homey and I like the wall color as well." Kanzenchikara said with a smile, as he surveyed the entire room and the things that were in it. It had been a long time since he had come out and many of Fern's things had changed. She no longer had toys lining her walls, instead in their place now set a vast array of books, random Japanese weapons, magazines, movies and CDs. It must have been strange for him, she concluded. She wasn't a child anymore and her room spoke it in great volumes.

Fern just scoffed lightly and rolled her eyes. Of course he liked it. It was mostly in colors of gold and black, his most favored colors in the entire world and Fern's too. After all he was a part of her soul. But still, when he smiled she just couldn't help herself, she had to smile too. Kanzenchikara did that to her, he had always made her feel happy and he usually made her smile, just like her dad. "So, you came out to tell me something important, so let's hear it?" She asked before she slipped off her shoes and hopped onto her bed. After getting comfortable, she watched the gold zanpakutō, as he walked around her room again. "Yeah, I did." He sighed with a nod. "Fern that boy you met tonight, he's different, very different. Yet, he's not so different from _you_." Kanzenchikara said pointedly and thoughtfully. Before she could open her mouth to ask him what he meant, he held up his hand, signaling her to wait.

"That boy, Kurosaki Ichigo, he has so much power within him… but, he knows nothing of it. It's a waist really. Fern, I want you to hang around him more and become his friend. With spiritual power like that and with it being uncontrolled, Hollows will undoubtedly go after him and everyone he has been in contact with, maybe even you. But I'm not worried about you, because you have complete control over your spiritual pressure and are an experienced fighter, so that boy shouldn't have much influence on you." He finished as he fingered the spine of a book. _Go Rin No Sho_, otherwise known as The Book of Five Rings, by a samurai warrior named Miyamoto Musashi. Kanzenchikara gave a lopsided grin. Fern was truly a child of Japan. The roots went deep within her blood, even if she didn't look it or act like it, her spirit was wholly Japanese, even if she considered herself American.

"I know his spiritual power is practically explosive! He probably doesn't even know that he has any. But that's probably why those Hollows were screaming the other night, they felt him." Fern suddenly came to the true and horrific conclusion. "His whole family will be in danger, as well as his friends!" Her eyes shot to her Zanpakutō, who had turned when her excited tone had turned almost panicked. "Yes, everyone around him is in danger, but he can't help it. He probably doesn't even know how or why he can see ghosts, and because of that I want you to watch over him. Make sure nothing happens to him, his friends and family." Kanzenchikara nodded with his face set in a serious mask. "But, I can't watch over him and do my schoolwork at the same time!" Fern quipped in a slight hiss. Though it wasn't meant to be mean or angry, it was just nearly impossible task for her to watch over Ichigo and do her schoolwork at the same time. Besides it was the middle of the freaking school year and she was new.

"Fern, just try. I mean hang out with him, become his friend. You know stuff like that. It wouldn't be that hard, just ask him to show you around and stuff, just do normal teenager things." Kanzenchikara said with a sigh. Even though he had been around for a long time, he really didn't know what teenagers did in the modern day. He had never had a wielder so young either or female, so most of the time, he was at a loss when it came to Fern. "Normal teenager things," Fern repeated with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms, as her lips twitched upwards in a suppressed smile. Kanzenchikara didn't have a clue as to what teenager's did in their spare time, but he was trying to learn. Fern decided that she would give his so-called 'advice' a chance and she'd just have to see where it went. Surely it couldn't hurt and it would give her an excuse to get to know Ichigo better.

Kanzenchikara just gave her a stern, "you-know-what-I-mean" look. He didn't like it when she poked at his lack of teenage human knowledge. But, sometimes Fern couldn't help herself. It was just too perfect of a thing to poke at, but he knew that it was just a jest, so he let her get away with a few pokes. "Okay, I'll do it, but if my homework doesn't get done, I'm going to lock you in your case for a month." Fern told him seriously. She didn't want to get behind on her homework, because it was hard to catch up and she really, really couldn't get too far behind, especially now. Hell, as far as she knew nothing she learned in Texas was going to help her here in Japan at all. "That's good," He grinned. "And I know you wouldn't lock me up, come up with a better bluff next time," He grinned knowingly. "Besides you need more training. I think you're getting rusty, goodnight Fern." Kanzenchikara said with a small smirk and a wink before he disappeared with a bright flash of light. When it was over, his sword form was lying innocently on the floor.

Fern's eyes were narrowed into small slits, as she moved from her bed to stand over the katana. She could feel and hear him snickering and it made her eye twitch irritably. So what if she hadn't trained in awhile? He hadn't even said anything to her before now, which meant only one thing: There was more to everything than he had said that he let on and Fern had a gut feeling that, somehow her training wasn't going to be the same anymore. "You're always keeping things from me." She sighed before slipping him back into his gold sheath and carefully laying him back in his case. Fern softly ran her fingertips over the entire length of the sheath and hilt before she closed the lid. But not before speaking again, in merely a whisper, "But, I trust you with my life. Goodnight, Kanzenchikara."

"Oh-holy shit, I'm gonna be late!" Fern yelled when she rolled over and looked at her silver and black radio alarm clock, which read 7:00 AM in bright green numbers. A loud thump was heard throughout the house as Fern's body hit the floor, along with an earsplitting yell of pain. "Ugh, I hate it when this happens." Fern moaned to herself angrily as she pulled her sleep plagued body off of her hard dark wood floor and slowly headed into her bathroom for a mid-morning shower, before leaving for school. Fern had every intention to skip the day's entrance exam and spend the weekend she was used having, to finish unpacking her stuff. However her mother had wrecked those plans when she somehow caught wind of Fern's strategy.

'_Wow Fern, you know you're starting off on a wonderful foot this morning, aren't you?' _Kanzenchikara laughed when Fern growled some very colorful and impolite words under her breath, as she pulled on some comfortable, yet respectable clothing. But it wasn't her school uniform. Fern hadn't gat a school uniform from the school yet, but she was sure she would soon be wearing one on a regular basis. When Fern left her house she was wearing a pair of stone washed blue jeans, which were hip hugging along with a semi-tight black spaghetti strap tank top, covered by a three-quarter sleeve light jacket. Her long hair was as usual put up in a messy ponytail and she was wearing a pair of black and white sneakers. All in all she looked like a regular American teenager from Dallas Texas and that was just what she wanted. Even though her mother had told her to try and blend in Fern had decided that no matter what anyone said she was going to be herself, with a little splash of her friends she had to leave behind.

"Hmm, looks like I'll reach school around 8:30 AM. Damn that must be a record for me anyways." Fern chuckled, talking aloud to herself. "But Chance wouldn't be at school yet, so I'm safe." She mused with a half smirk. Chance was always late to his classes, always. There was never a day when he showed up on time as far as she could remember. He was the 'King of tardiness' and was exceedingly proud of his goofy title to boot. _'That slacker goof couldn't arrive on time, if it killed him. He'll be late for his own funeral, you can bet on that.' _Kanzenchikara mentioned offhandedly inside Fern's mind and she snickered at the truth of his words. Fern and Kanzenchikara had always had an unusually strong bond with one another. He could see through her eyes, experience her emotions and feel what she touched and what touched her. He could even taste what she ate, smell what she smelt and even hear what she heard. Their bond was unlike any others, it was an unbreakable bond. A bond so strong, that death could only graze, but never shatter.

"I wonder if anyone here speaks English. Probably not considering ninety-nine percent of these people have probably never even been to America. Oh well, guess I'll just have to speak Japanese more often now. Man what a bummer," Fern sighed dejectedly speaking to herself as she walked down her new street, headed in the direction of her school. Occasionally she kicked around a small pebble with the tips of her shoes as she went. _'You're nervous, Fern. Why are you nervous, they're just kids, like you?' _Kanzenchikara asked in an even tone, when Fern went silent. One thing that Kanzenchikara had learned about his young wielder was that when she was nervous or upset she became deathly quiet. Even her thoughts ceased to exist. It was a daunting feeling and he wished that she would always be open to him, but that was just how she was. She closed up when she was upset or hurt. She chose to suffer alone and in silence. Kanzenchikara didn't understand why and he could only speculate as to why she did it.

"Yeah, they're kids like me, but they're not at the same time." She muttered under her breath, her eyes still downcast as she slowly trekked wherever her feet were taking her. Being in a deep lackadaisical mood, Fern decided that she wasn't in the mood to take the exam, so she decided that she was just going to walk around for awhile. Kanzenchikara sighed heavily within her mind, but said nothing. She wouldn't listen to him now anyway, so it would've just been a waist of energy to contradict her decision. Suddenly a heavy pulse rocked through Fern's mind. "Shit!" She cursed violently and stopped dead in her tracks as her hand right went to cradle her aching skull. "What the fu-" She started, before Kanzenchikara interrupted tirade. '_There's a Hollow here and a Shinigami, you have to leave, now!'_ Fern barely heard what the ancient zanpakutō said but she got the gist of it. She nodded her head thinking that he was right. She was weaponless and couldn't fight the Hollow. But the shinigami worried her more. If she could feel and see them, then she knew they could see and feel her as well. To be caught by a shinigami, was not something she wanted.

Before she took off running in the opposite direction, Fern glanced over her shoulder and saw a bunch of people running from a wrecked city block and unknowingly to them a large insect type of looking Hollow. Among the throng of scared humans Fern caught sight of Ichigo, the ghost girl and a small female shinigami. "Damn it!" She cursed with a growl and a glare as she unwillingly fled from the relatively weak Hollow. Running away from a battle was not her style, but that damn shinigami was standing in her way. "I _loathe_ running," She ground out through grinding teeth, as she ran back towards her new house. _'I know Fern, believe me, I know…' _Kanzenchikara whispered dolefully, as Fern violently burst through her front door, slamming it loudly as she fled to her bedroom. Fern didn't leave her room for the rest of the day, even when her mother came home and called her down for supper.

That night sometime past the fall of darkness Fern, with Kanzenchikara's katana form in hand jumped out of her bedroom window and landed in a very cat-like manner with her body in a crouching position, her left knee touched the ground along with her knuckles. Her eyes trailed up to her open second story window and she gauged that it was at least a ten foot distance, if not more. Not really all that much of challenge for her. _'You could've just transformed, you know. It would've been a lot easier.'_ Kanzenchikara informed her in a bored, lazy tone. Fern sighed intentionally loud and frowned. _'I know, but I didn't want to.' _She rebuked, before taking off in a dead sprint. _'Do you even know where you're going?'_ The gold zanpakutō asked the quiet teen curiously, as she continued to run towards a destination only she knew. _'Not exactly,'_ She replied mysteriously, making her zanpakutō sigh loudly as a show his irritation of being left out of her plans.

"Just trust me," She whispered aloud. "I know I have to be there tonight." Her words were quiet and spoken mostly for herself, but Kanzenchikara knew that whatever was prickling at her mind had to be important, otherwise she would have been resting. He remained silent for the rest of their trip, thankful that Fern had remembered to bring his weapon form along this time. There was not much they could do without his katana form. He was a weapon after all. Maybe he was just being nostalgic, but Kanzenchikara couldn't help but remember when Fern was always happy and never closed herself off from him. But that was before. Before Alexander was killed, before she hit puberty, before she began to retaliate against her mother's rules. He missed that Fern, the one that always teased him because he was dumb to what went on in the modern world and children's lives, the one that was always laughing at and with him.

Nowadays she was different, not wholly so, but enough. She usually had her head stuck in her martial arts training, the television, videogames, books, her zanjutsu training, hanging out with her friends or listening to her iPod. In reality she was too busy. She was always keeping herself busy so she wouldn't have to be around her mother or let thoughts of her father slip into her mind. She was running from her problems, which was quite a contradiction to her _'never run from a fight'_ saying. But, who was he to dictate her troubles. Even though she knew more than most humans, she was still young and impetuous and her heart was still bleeding from the loss of her father. Loss was something Kanzenchikara knew of all too well, even before his youthful wielder grasped his hilt, perhaps they were both broken souls.

"We're here," Fern's soft, breathy words caused Kanzenchikara to subtly show himself in his human spiritual form. Kanzenchikara's pure melted golden colored eyes shifted to watch the human-shinigami girl out of his peripheral vision. He silently wondered what she was thinking. Her face was void of any emotion, but that was usual for her when she was thinking. She was crouched two roofs away from the orange haired boy's house, watching the boy lie on his bed. "Don't give me that look," Fern uttered softly her eyes never leaving Ichigo's window. "_You're_ the one who told me I need to watch over him." Kanzenchikara hummed acknowledging the truth of her statement. "I wonder," He spoke as he lowered himself into a similar crouching position beside his wielder. "Why the sudden urge to actually do what I say?" He questioned turning his head to watch her fully.

A soft cool breeze swirled around them causing Fern's mid-back length flaxen blonde hair to float around her like a halo and her grey-blue eyes twinkled like the stats under the full moonlight. _'If there ever was such things as an angel, then I can honestly say that I have lived long enough to see one.'_ Kanzenchikara thought as he watched Fern. She wasn't flawless or perfect and she didn't have large white feathery wings like the human version of an angel, but to him she was as close to being one as any life form would ever be. "I won't interfere, unless it's absolutely necessary." Fern swore under her breath but Kanzenchikara heard her. "I see," He gave a slight nod, his eyes narrowed into a hateful glare as a solid black butterfly passed over Ichigo's outstretched body. Jigokuchō, otherwise known as Hell butterflies were always a good warning sign that a shinigami was near. Thankfully, Fern was well trained in hiding her spiritual pressure otherwise they'd have a serious problem.

"Calm, Kanzenchikara." Fern ordered gently, as the sheathed sword in her had began to vibrate aggressively in her grasp. Kanzenchikara growled lowly in the back of his throat and his pupils slimmed into terrifying slits, not unlike that of a cat's as the shinigami finally made her appearance. Kanzenchikara hated shinigami, which Fern found to be quite odd as he had trained her to be one, but she didn't question it. He would tell her, when she needed to know and not a nanosecond before. He was just as stubborn as she was, if not more so. "We should leave," Kanzenchikara's tone of voice had changed completely. It was a low deep throaty snarl now, barely even human to Fern's ears. But that didn't scare her. He wasn't human after all. He just took the convenient form of one more often than not. "We're staying." Fierce, feral looking golden eyes clashed with calm, steely blue-grey, as Fern finally removed her gaze from the house to meet eyes with her angered zanpakutō. Kanzenchikara's eye slimmed further and a snarl rose to his handsome face as he barred his teeth at her like an angry dog. Fern paid no mind to the four gleaming ivory fangs lengthening within his mouth and her grip tightened on the sheathed zanpakutō.

"We're staying." She repeated he voice now as sharp and cold as the blade she was clutching. For several minutes neither dropped eye contact nor blinked. Until the golden eyed male growled out a barely recognizable 'fine' in reluctant defeat and turned his head away from the stone angel his anger still brewing and bubbling dangerously close to the surface. Fern sighed under her breath and shook her head. Whatever he wasn't telling her about his past with the shinigami was obviously still a fresh wound. As Kanzenchikara sulked with his back turned towards her, Fern turned her attention back to what was happening between Ichigo and the small female shinigami. Fern shook her head again in disbelief. Ichigo had obviously done something to anger the shinigami because he was under a Kidō spell, most likely a Bakudō or binding spell from what she could tell. _'You really are a troublemaker, huh, Ichigo?'_ She grinned humorously, as the orange haired boy flailed around on his hardwood floor like a fish in a net.

"Kid has a big mouth," Kanzenchikara muttered moodily and Fern took the initiative to smack the sulking zanpakutō spirit in the back of the head with the butt end of her katana. He hissed back in defense, the sound low and menacing, similar to a spitting Cobra, only softer and more chilling. Fern eyed the temperamental zanpakutō spirit for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head realizing her mistake. With a soft hand she reached over and turned Kanzenchikara's face around so she could get a good look at him. "Calm down before you change into your real form," Fern whispered soothingly as she traced the multiplying fangs poking out over his bottom lip with her thumb. She wasn't afraid of him, even as she felt his body temperature drop and felt the soft scales as they appeared in patches over his human skin. "Sorry," He murmured lowly, his voice more of a low rumbling growl now, a clear indicator that he was too angry to control which of his forms were dominant.

"No," Fern shook her head with the beginnings of a sad smile. "I'm sorry for hitting you; it was stupid… and childish." Kanzenchikara eyed her from his peripheral vision, feeling like she didn't owe him an apology because of his issues, but knowing that she genuinely felt sorry for smacking him, even if it hadn't really hurt him at all. It felt more like a friendly thump, than the chastising strike she had intended. "Don't worry about it, nothing to forgive." He grinned showing a mouthful of razor sharp fangs. Fern didn't even flinch instead she grinned back and opened her mouth to speak, but quickly snapped her mouth shut when she felt the sudden approach of a Hollow. "Fuck," She stated aloud when the reptilian based Hollow broke through the side of the Kurosaki home, the shrill screams of who she presumed to be Ichigo's little sister's sent a spine chilling fear straight to her heart. She had let this happen. She hadn't been paying attention and let the Hollow sneak up on them, if anything happened then the blame rested solely on her shoulders.


End file.
